Liverpool Pals

The City has been experiencing giant fever for the last few days as the street theatre group, Royal de Luxe, returned to Liverpool with their giants. They were here last time for the Titanic memorial weekend, and this time headlined the World War 1 commemorations. Grandma Giant joined Little Girl Giant and her dog Xolo as they toured the city evoking memories of the build up and longevity of the Great War.

We went on Sunday to the finale as the two giant humans were placed on a barge and sailed out of the City from the Albert dock. On their final parade through the centre, the giants were joined by actors dressed as the Liverpool Pals, and WW1 officers in a tribute to the hundreds of locally recruited soldiers who lost their lives in the regular hand to hand conflicts of the war.

The Pals were groups of friends, co-workers and factory owners who were galvanised into action by Lord Derby. He wanted the City to answer the call from Lord Kitchener, that 'Your Country Needs You'. Within weeks of the announcement of war, Lord Derby, put forward the idea of a battalion drawn from the Liverpool business workforce, and even wrote to employers asking that they encourage their employees to enlist. So many turned up that in the end four battalions were formed. These troops were officially the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Service Battalions of the King’s, but known as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th  Pals.

Other cities followed Liverpool's lead and Pals regiments became widespread. By April 1915 the Pals had been formed in to the 89th Infantry Brigade and on 31 October, 1915, it was announced that the Pals would be leaving for France and in a letter to his brother Lord Derby gave his view on how the war could be won, “This war is only going to come to an end by killing Germans, and I am perfectly certain that at that game, the 89th Brigade will more than hold their own.”

The Pals would go on to fight in some of the most costly battles of World War I, taking part in the ‘big push’ at the Somme in 1916.
Almost 200 Liverpool Pals were killed going ‘over the top’ on 1 July, 1916, over 300 more were wounded, captured or recorded as missing.
Of the four original Pals Battalions who sailed to France in November 1915, twenty per cent would be dead by 1919, if the figures of wounded and those transferred to other units are included the casualty figure is closer to seventy five per cent.

The effect of these losses on Liverpool was highlighted on Sunday by a guard of honour of widowed mothers and sweethearts dressed in black,  who lined the procession route.

That Liverpool, and the rest of the Country can find ways of keeping these sacrifices in the minds of our people is a credit to them. Over 1 million people took to the streets in the last four days, many of them young children and teenagers, many with parents and grandparents. The storytelling will continue and with it the pass down of memories and understanding.  It was  heart warming to be part of it.

A thrash round a field

Rory McIlroy had just come back from a boys weekend in Ibiza, before he went on to win the Open Championship at Hoylake last week. Clearly that sort of break can do your golf the world of good.

I was one of the volunteer marshal's and did seven or eight shift from the Tuesday onwards. It was fascinating to see the players close up and wonder at how they hit the ball so far with apparently little effort. I am told something's called timing and practise are to blame!

I did not exactly meet the world but I did see David Clarke, an ex-Twickenham RFC lad with whom I used to play golf. He was caddying for Cameron Tringale, who had two steady rounds but was unable to make the cut mark.

David must be one of the most unlucky caddies around, he was with Justin Rose when he turned pro, and went through the hard times with him. They parted on good terms some time later but before Justin started winning big. He was with Michelle Wie when she had totally lost her game, and then moved on to VJ Singh for a while, and VJ has never been the fame force since his deer antler scandal.

I did appear on the BBC news at 7pm on the Sunday as a lady reporter did a piece to camera. I had my back to her and looked like I was perched on her shoulder like a parrot. We got £12 food allowance which did not buy too much food at the prices they were charging, so I saved mine up and got a bottle of champagne from the beer tent...every little helps.

So after Rory played so well after his boys weekend away, I wondered what difference my trip to Lisbon had made, and the formula seems to have worked. I went round Southport and Ainsdale yesterday in 82 shots, helping Wallasey to gain an honourable 4-4 draw. Interestingly when I consult my records I see that during our Southport flog expedition in 1988, I birdied the first hole and then went round in 103, so I seem to be improving!

Summer lovin'

What great weather we are experiencing at the moment. If we could guarantee this every year then who would need Turkey or the South of Spain. Its glorious.

I did take advantage of Portugal though, a couple of weeks ago, when I went to Lisbon for a stag weekend. 25 blokes aged from 45 to 63 all there for a few holes of golf , some sardines and gallons of sangria. I stuck to the very pleasant white wine and consequently lasted better than I was expecting. It was the stag's second go at matrimonials, and with a nickname of Wally, what other theme could there be!!

That's me at the back, with a black and white hat on! For some reason I got the golf colour code and the evening colour code mixed up!!  The man at the front with no hat was a local who was in the hotel celebrating his divorce, bit of a dichotomy really!  He picked up the bar tab so we had to include him in the picture.

I arranged the whole trip, given I was the only one 'not working' and it was quite an experience to do that. Transfers proved to be the hardest and most expensive part of the trip, given everybody makes their own way to these sort of things. They all land at different times and at different terminals, but everybody got there and a good time was had by all.